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Micro-chassis produces macro-power
This sweet-looking Kenwood Excelon X500-1 mono amplifier will deliver up to 500 watts RMS of bass pleasure, and this compact little beauty will fit almost anywhere in your car. You can adjust the built-in low-pass filter and bass boost to get just the right bass for your vehicle, while optimizing your sub's performance.

Cool running, lasts longer
The unique fin shape of the extruded aluminum heatsink helps pull heat away from the amp's interior, reducing distortion and extending the amp's life. An intelligent thermal management system continually monitors the temperature, saving your music from any interruptions due to overheating.

My system has plenty of power. Who needs an amp?

You might think you don't need an amp because you have a 400-watt system in your car, or because your new stereo puts out 50 watts a channel. But those are peak wattage ratings, which may boil down to 15 or 20 watts per channel, using the more realistic RMS rating. An amp sends your speakers the power they need to deliver your music with clarity and impact, whether you're using factory speakers or high-performance components. And low-frequency reproduction requires lots of power, so an amp is an absolute must if you're adding a sub to your system.

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Kenwood amp

Powerful amp at a great price. I ran 2 dvc 2 ohm phenix gold subs in an under seat truck box and they hit great. Won't win any competitions but if you want a nice clean sound at a great price. This is your amp.

Kenwood Excelon X500-1

i purchased this amp to replace my old mtx amp and am more than impressed!!! I bought the refurbished amp and have had no problems with the amp at all!! fast shipping and I had my subs hitting harder than they ever have.

Kenwood Exceleon x500

Written By SeanA, Chicago, IL on Wednesday, September 11, 2013

"Coolness Factor"

Build Quality

Ease of Use

Sound Quality

Value

I've had this amp for over a year now and not once had any issues, I'm powering 3 10" rockford fosgate R2D4 subs and they bang hard. Love this amp Excelon all the way. I benched the amp and at 2 phms it actually puts out 623rms

hard hitter

Written By Anonymous, Gering, NE on Thursday, August 29, 2013

I bought a factory. Refurbished unit was told there was a scratch I could nit find,I am powering a JL W6V2 in 2 ohms load at12.8 volts set at about 155 hz +10 bass bost at at full power it bumps hard I love it an I have in many locations drove 8+ hours running it full out the hole trip never overheated or turned off just 100% EXCELON quality I love it going to add another X500-1 and another JL W6-v2

Kenwood Excelon X500-1 - factory refurbished

I bought the Factory Refurbished unit and I am very pleased with the product I got. Yeah, it has some scratches on the front that made it look a bit used, but it still has it's natural good looks.

As far as features go, well there aren't any. You get the basics, a bass boost and a low pass filter. It's a simple design and for me, there is nothing wrong with that. That is actually part of the attraction I have for this amp - a simple design with few controls, compact and lightweight, great price, with certified power. Details are a little slim on the thermal shutdown function, but the amplifier should turn off to protect itself in case of overheating.

I have this powering a sealed 8" subwoofer at 4 ohms, a very modest system for sure, but very enjoyable to listen to. I think this amp must be great for somebody who wants to add some low end impact in a simple configuration, without having to tweak too much. Performance is great in my setup. If you had a ported 2 ohm load, I'm certain this little amp could help rattle your car.

Cons:No subsonic filter, no speaker level input, no preamp output, no signal sensing turn-on - If you want any of these features you'll have to look elsewhere. Kenwood DOES offer these features in some of their other models, just not this one.

X500-1

Good bang for the buck, the first refurb unit I got was dead, but customer service got another unit to me right away. I paired this with a 4ohm excelon 10" subwoofer in my mustang gt and it sounds great... It really completes the sound system.

Pros:Cheap price, small footprint, low power consumption

Cons:Refurb unit arrived dead, I miss the sound from the older analog amps.

its tough

Written By david, st.louis, mo on Sunday, May 12, 2013

my be I got lucky... but I had it running two kicker comp 12"s and a alpine type r at the same time.... it didn't over heat at all... I know it wasn't enough power but im surprised it didn't fry r cook.... so imam see how tough it really is by running 3 type r's on it ... just to see... ps I know they r under powered n miss match.. but I was ballin on a budget.

Good sound, poor built-in boost

Overall, this amp is great. It sounds great, was simple to put in, and really increased the quality of my bass. Built-in fuses is a nice feature. The dials on the back are easy to access and configure. The built-in bass boost goes from 0 to 18 dB, but it has issues (read cons for details). Looks sharp and has a nice profile. Doesn't have any problems with heat (so far) or for being on for extended periods of time (most I've had this thing pumping so far is 2.5 hours straight). Really makes my car bump.

Cons:The built-in bass EQ doesn't boost all bass frequencies. It seems to boost up to 125-175KHz ish and then cut off. The mid bass is thus very quiet of you use the bass EQ. Quiet as if you had no boost on at all and that's not good. I had to use a mix of boosting at the headunit (which you're NOT supposed to do) and Bass EQ to get the mid-bass and high-bass sounding okay. Not enough to make me want to return the product. I don't know if this is a common problem, but if it isn't, would not buy again

Awesome!!

Written By Noah, Salem, VA on Tuesday, February 05, 2013

"Coolness Factor"

Build Quality

Ease of Use

Sound Quality

Value

this is my first amp ive ever owned, and i am completly blown away at how good it is!! ive been around a lot of other systems with poor sound quality and low power. i have a 12" JL W-O v3 in a ported box and i blow away any of my friends sound systems! i am about to upgrade to 2 JL W-O's running about 500 RMS and i cant wait to hear it! this Kenwood will have no problem suppling them. another amazing product from Kenwood.

Pros:Easy to use, looks great, stays at low temperature, even when running for awhile. not to mention the awesome sound quality.

Cons:not much customization for filters and things, and no remote bass knob. still a GREAT product though

Nice Amp!

Written By SeanyD, Southern Oregon on Saturday, December 22, 2012

Nice amp, compact, fits under my seat perfectly. I have had a lot of amps including JL 500/1, Alpine 1000, Alpine m450, and this amp is right there with these no problem. I pushes my 12" Rockford Fosgate WAY hard. Definitely get this amp.

Good little amp

Have it driving a used kicker CVR 10" wired up in 2 ohm in a sealed box in the trunk of my 2011 fusion. When cranked up it rattles my license plate on the out side of my trunk. Other reviews of kenwood amps people complain about them burning out after 6 months to a year, well that is because they don't set the gain properly. If you set the gain correctly then they are great little amps.

Clean and good looking

This amp is way clean and it has plenty of power. It is powering a Rockford 12" and I can only ramp the gain 1/2 way. I didnt need the bass boost either, as it is booming the neighborhood just fine without it. I could easily add another 12", and this amp wouldnt bat an eye. Love the clean look of the amp too.

Powerful amp compact size.

I have this amp hooked up to 2 12" JBL GT-5 subs. I wired both subs in parallel so the amp is pushing out 500 watts RMS @ 2 ohms and I have to say WOWWW. Those JBLs pound so hard now that it makes my rear view mirror pretty much useless and i can feel the bass rattling my brain lolll and thats without turning up the amps bass boost all the way i couldnt imagine how hard they would pound if i did. This amp def has tremendous power and its very compact so it can fit pretty much anywhere in your vehicle, i just so happen to drill it down to the top of the sub box cuz it looks pretty cool there lol. Now besides its power and compact size, crutchfield offers a free 4 gauge wiring kit with it thatll save you $80 which is the cherry on top of the deal. I would def reccomend this amp to anyone who wants to add raw power to their subs and wants a sleek and compact amp doing it.

Pros:POWER, compact size, and a free wiring kit with it sweet freakin deal!

Product Research

Features

CEA-2006 Compliant: CEA-2006 is a system of testing and
measurement methods for mobile audio amplifiers. This voluntary standard advocates
a uniform method for determining an amplifier's RMS power output and signal-to-noise
ratio. The criteria for measuring power uses a DC input voltage of 14.4 volts and
the RMS power output is measured into a 4-ohm load, with 1% or less Total Harmonic
Distortion (THD) plus noise, and over a frequency range of 20 Hz to 20 kHz, when
applicable (20-200 Hz for this subwoofer amp). Signal-to-Noise ratio is measured
in weighted absolute decibels (dBA) at a reference of 1 watt into 4 ohms. CEA-2006
allows consumers to compare car amplifiers and receivers on an equal basis. Using
CEA-2006 criteria, the Kenwood X500-1 is rated at 300 Watts RMS x 1 channel with an
83 dBA signal to noise ratio.

Specifications: The manual also lists these non CEA-2006
compliant specifications:

Mono-Power Amp Design: The Kenwood X500-1 is designed with
specific features to power your subwoofers with a frequency range between 20 and
200 Hz. This amplifier is not designed to power a full-range speaker.

Class D Amplifier Design: The amplifier design is Class D,
which uses digital switching power supplies. The result is much higher
efficiency (less heat generated) than Class AB.

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